


Merry Christmas, Baby

by curlsandcrown



Series: Universes in which Bughead gets engaged [4]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 18:17:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13129284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlsandcrown/pseuds/curlsandcrown
Summary: Betty and Jughead have a Christmas Eve tradition of giving each other a new ornament for their tree.





	Merry Christmas, Baby

By their third Christmas together, Betty and Jughead began to buy each other a new ornament to hang on their tree that they would exchange on Christmas Eve. A typewriter, motorcycle, magnifying glass, an open book, a boom box similar to the one in her childhood bedroom - anything at all that reminded them of each other. It wasn’t a tradition that either of them took particularly seriously, just something cute and fun to make their tree unique. And it was a good way to spend their last night in solitude together before Christmas Day dinners and holiday celebrations with family and friends that typically lasted until New Year’s Eve.

Fast forward six years and their tree was decorated with a multitude of these mismatched ornaments mixed in with the usual red, green, and silver balls that they also put on it.

Usually, they would give each other hints as to what the ornaments were, driving each other crazy with their competition of who could get the best ornament for the other, but for some reason, they had been quiet about their choices this year.

When Christmas Eve came around, Jughead almost seemed like he had forgotten about his altogether. There wasn’t a small box under the tree, nor had he mentioned having found the best one yet, as he often said every year. (They're just a little competitive). It was the first time he had ever really stumped Betty Cooper in all their years knowing each other.

“Are you ready?” Betty asked, smiling excitedly and walking into the living room with a plate of cookies. She put the plate on the coffee table and made her way to the tree, bending down to retrieve a box that Jughead hadn’t even spotted when he’d snooped a few days before.

Once she had the box, she sat down on the couch and waited for Jughead to join her, looking over at her boyfriend with an excited aura around her. 

He glanced at her and put up a finger to tell her to wait before he rushed to another room to retrieve his box from wherever he had been hiding it. Betty waited as patiently as possible, looking at the box in her lap. She had technically bought him two that year, but this was the most important one she had ever bought for him. The other, a snake, could wait until later. It was more tongue in cheek anyway. But this, oh, this was the big one.

“Okay, yes,” he said, striding back into the room and settling down next to her. “I’m ready.” Jughead smiled at the eagerness in her eyes and said, “You first.”

Taking a deep breath, Betty turned toward him.

“This is really one to go on our tree next year,” she said, handing the box over.

“Next year,” he repeated in confusion as he unwrapped the box. Looking into the opening, he read the words on it and his eyes widened. “Betts, are you serious?”

She nodded happily, teeth catching her bottom lip and took the box back from him, opening it up completely to remove the ball since his fingers clearly seemed to have stopped working while Jughead stared at her in awe. She held it up for him to see more clearly.

Baby’s First Christmas

“I’m pregnant, Jug.”  The words came out of her mouth in a whisper, eyes shining with happy tears.

The thought of being a dad took his breath away and then he laughed in disbelief. Jughead wanted to tease her, make a joke about how they're really trying to outdo each other this year but instead, he felt more confident than ever about his ornament.

“This is an important Christmas,” he stated matter of factly. There was a new spark in his eyes when he looked at her, giving her the ornament he had chosen.

“Think you can top that?” She teased.

Jughead shook his head and grinned at her. “Not at all.”

Before he could even begin saying anything more, Betty had wrapping paper all over her lap in no time. There were some things that Betty didn’t do delicately and unwrapping gifts was one of those things.

She was practically bouncing, pulling the clear round ornament out of the box. There was a small piece of folded paper inside of it. She tilted her head and glanced at him.

“What is this?” she said with a slight laugh.

“Read it,” he instructed, pulling something discreetly out of his pocket as she did so.

She opened up the small paper, her eyebrows furrowing a bit as she looked at the small writing. “Look down?” She read aloud, eyes going to the floor to find him kneeling there. He has another box in his hand, this one small and velvet.

“Merry Christmas, Betts,” he started, opening the box to reveal the ring. It was platinum with a modest-sized diamond in the middle of the band that glistened in the tree’s lights. “I had a speech prepared about our past and our future, but you just blew me away. You constantly surprise me.”

Betty smiled with tears building up in her eyes and reached down to cup his cheeks.

“I don’t need a speech, Juggie.”

“Will you marry me, Betty Cooper?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed, leaning down to press her lips to his. They kissed for a few moments before he slipped the ring on her finger, holding her hand for a moment to admire it finally being on her finger and moved back to the couch, taking her into his arms so he could tell her how much he loves her and their baby, his hand skimming her still flat abdomen.

After a few minutes, Jughead jumped up to put their new ornaments on the tree, his fiancee giggling as he shoved the piece of paper back into the glass then stood there for a moment. His eyes roamed over the nearby ornaments before returning to his spot on the couch. Betty was admiring her ring when he set her legs in his lap.

How had they gotten so lucky? They were having a baby and getting married. As they sat there, looking at their sparkling tree and ring, they decided there was no way they would be able to top these ornaments for each other so they would have to start a new family tradition next year with their child.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Written by R. (But it wouldn’t have been finished without some touches from J.) 
> 
> Requests are open!


End file.
